Crealde Table Cloth Sketching

Posted on by Thor

6 months into the pandemic I was teaching an Urban Sketching course at Crealde School of Art on Sundays. Tables in the room were arranged in tight rows, but I would spread then out into an open circular layout just before class to allow for some social distancing. Masks were required at this point.

My mantra from the very first class is to “fill the page.”  I also want to encourage the students to draw from the hips, trough the shoulders and then to the hand rather than dainty lines put down with wrist or finger movement. To encourage this, I covered each table with white paper tablecloths which become the sketch that needed to be completed. The sketch above was also done on one of these large sheets of paper. You can see the ripped edges on the left and right. I painted the scene much later digitally.

The Crealde Urban Sketching course will start up again in the Spring. I am teaching 6 days a week for Elite Animation Academy and they have a course called “Sketching People Places and Things” which very much like the Urban Sketching course. There are virtual classes for adults now and I have students from as far away ad Borneo!

Compass Fusion at Timucua

Posted on by Thor

Terry Olson offered some free tickets to the Timucua Arts Foundation, Compass Fusion Concert. He said the first people to e-mail him could have the tickets. I emailed, but wasn’t fast enough. Knowing I wanted to sketch, Terry pulled some strings anyway. Leah Love, the Executive Director at Timicua, let me know she would love too have me sketch. She and Michael Rizzo had been married since the last time I saw them. At the entrance Leah actually didn’t recognize me since I now have a grizzly mountain man beard.

Thick red velvet curtains separated the entry, social area from the performance space. On stage, visual artists Edson Campos and Kathleen Brodeaur were working on a large portrait of a young girl. Edson and Kathleen worked on the portrait together. It was fascinating to watch them work before the start of the show. By the time Benoit Glazer made his announcements and introduced the performers the face of the portrait was complete.

The Compass Trio are from Brooklyn New York. They performed Indian Flamenco-Groove Fusion with guitar, Tabla (drums), and sitar. The music was absolutely mesmerizing and fantastic to sketch to. One piece called Murmerations which was inspired by large flocks of birds flying in absolute unison. The music wove its way into the soul. I swayed as I sketched feeling every undulating improvisation that inspired the lines to dance on the page with little second guessing.

A string broke on the sitar, so there was a brief question and answer session as the repair was made. I took the time to keep sketching feverishly. That break was a good time to break out the watercolors. The final piece they performed kept building in layers to a magnificent crescendo that they maintained indefinitely. When it ended the audience burst into a standing ovation. I had to put my art supplies away before I could stand.

I had driven 32 miles from the back woods of Yalaha, Florida to witness this performance, and it was well worth it. The room vibrated with creative inspiration. Benoit got on the stage and mentioned that the painting that Edson and Kathleen had done live on stage was available for $700. Someone in the back of the audience purchased the painting. I do believe that they were painting a woman’s portrait on the very first evening I sketched at the Timucua White House. That painting has hung in the room ever since it’s creation.

Urban Sketchers Orlando at The Salty Donut

Posted on by Thor

On October 17, the Orlando Urban Sketchers held a Coffee and Draw event at the The Salty Donut (3025 Corrine Dr, Orlando, FL).

I ordered an iced coffee and a donut with a sweet caramel glaze. All the urban sketchers were seated outside and every seat was full, so I sat inside looking out through the plate glass windows. Being inside I kept my kn-95 mask and that meant my donut and coffee would not be eaten until the sketch was done and I went outside.

Staff were decorating the venue for Halloween and a skull was plopped down in front of me, while strands of witches were hung from bookshelves. This sketch was done in a very old sketchbook started back in college days and I am working to fill it up, despite the thin paper quality.

One of the sketchers was a former student of mine and it was rewarding to see him and his wife still sketching. Most all of my evenings are booked solid with virtual classes so I always make sure to get out to any morning sketch opportunities I can find. With all the sketches complete, we had a “Throwdown” to see all the sketches together. Then we posed as a group in front of the Salty Donut.

Art in the Alley, Mount Dora

Posted on by Thor

Art in the Alley on the historic Roylleau Street in Mount Dora, Florida, is held every 2nd Friday. The alley runs for two blocks between 3rd Street and 5th Street. The alley is one block west of Baker Street and ends at the Donnelly Park, right at the Mount Dora Center for the Arts.

I had forgotten my artist stool, so I sat in a tangle of live Oak roots to sketch the entrance to the alley. All the trees were still lit up with Christmas lights. I took my rag and folded it up to add some cushioning against the hard knobby roots.

Several weeks prior, Stella Arbelaez had a portrait on exhibit near here which we visited, and then we went into this Van Gogh themed bus to look at the art of Richard Barrenechea.The entire city was ablaze with Christmas lights and after the bus Stella and I went to the tai restaurant right next to the bus. To me that outdoor seating area reminds me of Van Gogh‘s painting of a provincial outdoor cafe. The Miso Soup warmed my soul and the Pad Thai noodles were sweet and delicious. Overall it was a great night on the town.

Richard had painted an entire house to look like Van Gogh’s Starry Night. On this night, driving into Mount Dora from Yalaha, I saw the house first time right before entering the historic downtown. Sketching the house would be tricky since a large road runs right in front of it.

As I finished up my sketch, a mom was waiting to get her children across the very busy street. She wasn’t crossing the street to see art, rather she was crossing the street to get ice cream cones for her kids. A beautiful hostess encouraged people to enter the bus. Richard has converted this bus into a mobile art gallery of his work. The pop culture paintings are shiny with thick layers of varnish. I stumbled up the steps of the bus and lost my balance. I used my left hand to catch myself from falling. I asked Richard if I could just get a card and he said, “You are leaning on them.” Sure enough my left hand was right on a pile of cards. I laughed. I wonder how many others had lost their balance getting up those bus steps and stumbled upon the cards. That is some golden marketing right there.

Other than Richard’s bus, I only noticed one other artist with a table set up half way down the first block of the Alley. The central building in Donnlley Park had signs for a Highwayman exhibit. I peaked my head in but there was only a retirement party going on. Weather you are looking for ice cream or Art, downtown Mount Dora is buzzing on a Friday night,

Crealde Urban Sketchers in Panera’s

Posted on by Thor

One of the last classes of my Crealde Urban Sketching Class is held inside a Panera Bread on Aloma Avenue in Winter Park just a block from the school campus. The goal is to get the students familiar with sketching in a restaurant.

On a Sunday, Panera Bread has few customers in the early morning but as noon approach people start to arrive many from church. Some retirees are here every weekend it seems. Most people were on their digital devices. Only my students held paper pencils and pens. Since tables are set square to the room, this is often a lesson in one point perspective for my students. My sketch is sett up as a one point perspective with a hint of a second point off to the left off the page.

I move from student to student and kneel down to do thumbnail sketches helping them at any point that has them stumped at the time. My time working on this sketch is therefor limited. An older couple sat right in front of me. After they had eaten, I liked that they were both on their cell phones at the same time facing one another but speaking to others. It is a sign of our times. A digital divide.

When all our sketches were complete, we went outside and lined up all the sketches on a table. It is so rewarding to see the amazing variety of approaches each artist takes. Even though they were all given the same information to start, they each interpreted what I told them in their own way. This is what makes sketching from live so exciting. I am often asked, “do you take a photo and work from that?” NO! There is an energy that you get when working directly from life. It is that energy and excitement that I hope to share with the students. Granted sketching on location isn’t as popular at Crealde as ceramics, but the students how embrace sketching, will have a new way of interacting with the world.

Sign up for the next Crealde Urban Sketching classes which will start up in the spring. The winter class was canceled since no one signed up. Perhaps Florida students fear the cold. It is 56 degrees out there right now. Brrrr!

Spiral Circle Writers Workshops

Posted on by Thor

On Wednesdays at 6pm, Spiral Circle Bookstore (750 N Thornton Ave, Orlando, FL) offers free writers workshops. I drove from Yalaha to attend.

I got there a bit early and looked around at all the books, crystals, candles and and endless array of soul calming talismans. The air was scented which reminded me that I was unmasked. Having just recovered from a COVID infection, I hope I am immune for several months. After that I will start masking up again.

The workshop room was yellow with an “Everyday Miracle” quote on the wall. The middle sentence was so faint I could not read it. Albert Einstein said, “There are two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.”

I sketched the room before participants arrived. There was a small table in the center of the room and two chairs. All that changed when writers started to arrive. The table was pushed back and many more chairs were retrieved from a closet I was sitting in front of. Seven writers entered and sat in a circle. I erased most of what I had started.

The workshop is one hour and offers three prompts. Once a prompt was read everyone began to write. I love the creative energy in that moment of silence and concentration. In the time of the first prompt I managed to rough in the sketch lightly in pencil. I was still searching and unsure, but things were starting to pull together. Each writer read aloud what they had written. A playwright said she was surprised by how the words sounded when read them aloud. Shayana, the moderator, said, that reading aloud helps an author recognize and hear their own voice. Shayana had a “Black Women are Perfect” Tee shirt which I found fun. One prompt was about feelings following the holiday season. Without going into details of the stories, I felt a mix of joy and deep sorrow from each of the authors. I welled up at one point. There is a raw openness to the group and pure acceptance for what was expressed. For some poetic passages everyone would snap their fingers.  Once everyone had read, they turned to me. I explained that there was just a tangle of lines at the moment but I shared my progress. There was some ooohing and ahhhing and I felt warmly embraced. Everything that happened in the yellow room was a creative miracle.

Crealde Urban Sketching Tent

Posted on by Thor

One of the first assignments my Urban Sketching students get at Crealde School of Art is trying to sketch this outdoor tent. The day starts with a lesson in 1 point and two point perspective and then we go outside and sketch the tent.

There is a lake behind Crealde and the far shore gives a clear indication of where the horizon line would be in a sketch. Before students get too far into their sketches, I visit each one individually and give them a thumbnail sketch to indicate what features I would look for if I were to attempt the sketch from their angle.

Sometimes we just work in pen and ink and sometimes we push further and use watercolor. It depends on the vibe of the students. Each class tends to focus on one premise which is rolled into what we learned the previous week.

This is the perfect time of year to attend the Urban Sketching Class since the weather is so cool. In most classes we are outside exploring the camp us or heading out to a location to sketch. Past locations have included, a dog park, bowling alley, Panera’s, and antique car meet ups. The possibilities on a Sunday morning could be endless with enough research.

If you are interested in improving your skills and joining an international movement of like minded artists you should come on out. We meet for 3 hours and the goal is always to push the sketches to a level of completion with line, value and color. These are sketches not something for a museum wall. When you stop worrying about the final result you tend to take more chances and surprisingly the sloppy experiments are what works best. In my work the sketches are almost always populated with people, so in one class students sketch one another.

I just got an email from Crealde and unfortunately the January 19 series of classes have been canceled but you should think about signing up of the next series of sessions starting in the spring. I can’t figure out why sketching on location is not more popular in Orlando. I have been sketching everyday on location since 2009. I just did the math, that is 16 years. It is a habit that keeps me motivated and inspired each and every day.

Today I will be unpacking all the sketchbooks I have filled over the past 16 years. They take up a shelf and a half on my handmade bookcase. I also discovered I have tons of wood stretchers and raw canvas. It might be a good time to start working on larger paintings on location. I am now in a rural area town in Florida names Yalaha, so I will soon be hiking into the woods to sketch and perhaps work on larger paintings. This is an exciting time, much like a residency. This new location should inspire me to take more chances moving forward while still working on the COVID Dystopia book.

 

Post Milton

Posted on by Thor

Hurricane Milton knocked down 4 trees in Stella Arbelaez‘s Yahala studio yard. One tree fell up against the shed in this sketch damaging the roof line but not yet hitting the ground.

I consulted with Paul, the leader of the tree removal crew of 3 and he felt I would be fine sketching from this location.

Paul had a thick utility belt with more gadgets than batman. He clipped on a chainsaw to the belt and kicked the metal cleats on his boots into the thick pine bark.

At the base of the tree a thick rope was braided and tied with a sort of  Tee shaped metal device that the rope could be wound around. Paul made his way up cutting off smaller branches as he went. His goal was to get to the very top and tie another road braid which must have had a pulley set up.

Paul had a blue rope tied to his utility belt. Large branched would be securely tied to the blue rope and at the ground level, a red rope was tied to the blue rope to allow one or two men to use the pulley system to lower the branch to keep it from crashing down at full force. They were a well oiled machine and Paul was always in charge making sure no one was under a branch that might fall. Paul was also always secured to the top knotted rope so he would only fall a few feet and swing rather than fall all the way to the ground. When he came down to climb another tree, he said the trees were swaying at least a foot at the very top. It was a windy day. That is a job I would never have the nerve to do myself.

The most exciting moment came when Paul cut off a large group of branches at the top of the tree all at once. The ground shook when it hit, only a few feet in front of me. After that I decided to pick up my artist stool and move back a few feet. With the largest branches they would do what was called a quarter turn with the red rope which would cause the fallen branch to swing around the main trunk away from Paul. It would then be lowered slowly to the ground by the ground crew.

When all the side branches were down, then the main trunk came down in about 16 foot sections, which fell with brute force shaking the ground each time. They were then cut on the ground into 4 foot sections which were transported to the street. It rained twice, which interrupted the work. It took a day to safely cut down 2 trees. Another smaller tree is slated to be cut down and the large root balls from large fallen trees will eventually be removed with a large crane. A neighbor across the street asked Paul to split the large logs and dump it all on his front lawn. It is a shame this house doesn’t have a fireplace, because nights have been cold this week and it is a shame to waste such a massive source of fuel.

I am excited by the possibilities at the Yahala studio. I’ve learned quite a bit about composing, and the myriad of uses of bamboo for construction. I am going to start making some bamboo path edging soon which should look awesome, while keeping leaves from littering the pathway. While large tree roots were ripped up by the hurricane, I am starting to realize how good it would be to put roots down, and start new growth, through hard work, while using materials already available on the property. Maybe it is just a dream, but it is nice to dip my toe into the infinite possibilities of sustainable homesteading.

Post Eye Surgery

Posted on by Thor

After my eye surgery for Macular Degeneration, I returned to the Orlando Eye Center for a second check up. Macular degeneration is a condition that results in gradual vision loss in the center of the field of vision. The result for me right now is double vision. When I drive I now squint or close my left eye so that I do not see too many lines on the roads. Night driving is a bit of a bear now.

The surgery done involved inserting tiny instruments into my left eyeball and removing a film which had developed on the back surface of the eye. Of course my hope was that the vision would improve after surgery. Dr. Kumar who performed the surgery told me that structurally my eye was as good as it could get to. Unfortunately there is nothing else that the doctor can do. The next thing I need to do is get new eye glasses. He thinks that glasses might be able to equalize the vision a little more. After the membrane was removed, the swelling at the back of the eye is supposed to have come down, but looking at the images shown I saw no difference. He told me that corrugations and bends in the retina were now gone. He then showed me the right eye which had a nice smooth dip which he told me will never return for my left eye. The doctor knows that I am an artist, and since I am an artist, it might me more noticeable that for others.

Having had the surgery, I am now also likely to develop a cataract in the left eye. Put simply the operation was an abject failure. I need to find ways to adjust my art to make room for the double vision.

Of course everyone was unmasked except for me. This was before I was infected with COVID-19 on a flight back from the Pittsburgh Shorts Film Festival. I am guessing the mask didn’t fit tight enough with my goatee.

Yalaha Florida Studio

Posted on by Thor

In the driveway of the Yalaha studio is a pile of sand for sandbags acquired before Hurricane Milton hit. That sand will be used to fill the hols left behind once the root balls are removed from the fallen trees.

Stella drives a silver Prius which is identical to mine. Since she was parked a bit in front of my car it wasn’t visible from the spot where I did this sketch.

There is a property right next to this which is completely wild and undeveloped. As I sketched I felt calm and peaceful. Squirrels ran along the fence and birds were chirping It was a rare moment of absolute peace where I feel like I am part of the landscape. I need to search for such locations more often. The former neighborhood in Orlando where I had a studio that always had airplanes flying into and out of the Orlando airport. Being on the approach to the runway the airplanes roared over head.

Since being here I have slept like a baby every night. The only sound in the morning has come from a few cardinals who tap on the glass because of a mirrored surface. Stella purchased little decals that go on the outside of the windows which hopefully will discourage the birds from running into the glass.

Stella showed me around Yalaha. There is a neighborhood behind the post office which has really old cracker style houses that are getting run down. It is a poorer neighborhood, but there are many buildings with plenty of character. I might start hiking out that way for the exercise and to sketch.

Workmen cutting down trees will be in the yard tomorrow, so I suspect I will be sketching men with chainsaws. A new location should bring new inspiration for my daily sketch routine. I still have tons of boxes I still need to unpack but that will happen slowly over the coming weeks.